


Suddenly, Cats

by 1848pianist



Series: Some Heroes Do Wear Capes: Assorted Drabbles in the Marvel Fandom [6]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Cats, Charles Xavier is a Nerd, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pets, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-20 08:23:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3643362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1848pianist/pseuds/1848pianist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dariana sent me this on tumblr a while ago: "fic prompt: "charles, we can't have these many dogs in our apartment. the landlord will kick us out." "BUT LOOK AT HIM, ERIK. I'VE NAMED HIM MENDEL." "Of course you have,"" I asked if I could do cats instead (not a dog person, sorry), and this is the result.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Suddenly, Cats

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SapphireQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireQueen/gifts).



The door clicks open without a touch from Erik as he steps into the hall, scraping his boots off on the mat. It’s just gotten warm enough that the endless snow has finally begun to melt, leaving behind even less desirable slush, but despite the weather, Erik seems in a fairly good mood. Charles takes this as a positive sign, and hopes that it means he’ll be more receptive to their newest members of the household. Truth be told, he has no idea whether Erik is a cat person or not; it’s difficult to imagine him with pets at all.

“Hello, _liebling_ ,” Erik says, leaning over to kiss Charles hello.

“Hi,” Charles replies. “Good day?”

“So far,” Erik says. At a small _meow_ from the other room, he freezes, gazing over Charles’s shoulder.

“What was that?” he asks.

Charles smiles faintly. He might be the telepath of the pair, but he knows it’s no use keeping secrets from Erik, who can read at a glance when Charles isn’t telling him something. It could just be that Charles is utterly unable to hold a straight face under scrutiny, but he suspects it has rather more to do with Erik. Perhaps he has a second mutation he isn’t aware of yet.

“I—well, I seem to have acquired some…cats,” Charles says.

“Cats, plural?”

“It’s a long story,” Charles sighs. “At least come and say hello?”

Erik, somewhat hesitantly, allows Charles to pull him into the kitchen, where three cats of various mixed breeds and degrees of friendliness mill about.

“That one there is Darwin,” Charles says, pointing at a stripy grey cat curled up by the fridge. “He seems fairly easygoing. I’m aware we already know a Darwin, but I couldn’t very well name him _Charles,_ obviously, and I had a theme…”

“Charles,” Erik interrupts, his voice slightly strained, “there’s no way we can have three cats in our apartment. The landlord will kick us out.”

“He’ll never know, Erik. They’re cats. How much trouble can they cause? And look, Erik!” He picks up a rather sleepy-looking Manx, who curls up quite contentedly in his arms. “I’ve named him Mendel.”

“Of course you have,” Erik says, staring warily at the remaining cat, a large orange tabby that hisses whenever Charles moves.

“That one is Huxley,” Charles says quickly, so as not to give time for Erik to come up with an argument against the keeping of three cats. “I wouldn’t go near him, if I were you.”

Erik doesn’t move, but Huxley has other ideas, leaping down from the counter and curling around Erik’s leg, now purring loud enough to cause a small local earthquake.

“Well, he seems to like you,” Charles says.

“Sensible of him,” Erik replies. “Where did you happen to come by three cats, anyway?”

“One of the other professors is moving and she can’t bring pets. It was an impulse decision.”

“Did you ever consider that we also can’t have pets?” Erik asks. He’s trying to sound resolute, but it’s difficult when an affectionate cat is sitting on his foot. Okay, so he can see the appeal.

“They needed a home, Erik,” Charles says, using all his powers of persuasion minus his actual power of telepathy. “I had to do something.”

Erik considers, looking down at Huxley’s twitching tail. “We’ll have to buy supplies,” he says slowly, giving into the temptation to scratch the cat behind the ears. “And I’m certainly not going to be the one taking care of them.”

 “Wonderful!” Charles says, taking a step towards Erik and getting swiped at by Huxley for his trouble.

“Ouch!” he yelps as claws sink into his calf. “Little devil,” he adds, managing to keep his hold on Mendel.

“He must be jealous,” Erik laughs, kissing Charles on the cheek as Huxley runs off into the living room.

“Come on,” Charles grumbles good-naturedly. “Let’s go get some cat food, yes?”


End file.
